By Luke Langlois
When I was tasked with writing about happiness, I had no idea what to write about. Obviously, happiness is different for everyone, and, sometimes, we’re not even sure what happiness feels like when we truly are happy. So, I consulted an outsider, ex-blogger Claire Jenkins, for an idea. Being the purveyor of happiness and the pilot she is, she said to write about “clouds or something.” Perfect. While they are not going to buy you a new car, clouds are fascinating, and a beautiful strain of clouds is bound to make you stop and take a look. Moreover, unless you are fresh out of a science class (or pilot training), it is likely that you have forgotten your cloud types! Let us take a scientific look at the types of clouds that can roam the air with some lovely examples that hopefully make you want to look to the skies yourself.
- Cumulus clouds are the “figurehead” of clouds. They are sometimes known as the “fair weather” cloud because they appear on clear, sunny days when the sun is able to heat the ground directly below. If you can see these clouds, be grateful because you are experiencing some swell weather.
- Stratus clouds may not represent happiness to most of the world’s population because they cover up the sky and hang low. Luckily for us desert folk, stratus clouds represent light mist or a drizzle of rain, so they should represent happiness because everyone loves a bit of water.
- Stratocumulus clouds are a bit of a hybrid between the above two (given the name). They cover the sky, but not as wholly as the stratus clouds. Stratocumulus clouds leave gaps in the sky where blue peeks through. These clouds are seen on days of low atmospheric convection.
- Altocumulus clouds are smaller fluff puffs in the sky. They are often confused with stratocumulus, but they do not cover as much of the sky and the individual clouds are smaller. These are not a frequent sighting in the desert, as they usually appear on hot and humid days when a thunderstorm or cold front is to follow.
- Nimbostratus clouds are THE rain or snow cloud. They’re dark, hazy, and ominous-looking, but they are absolutely majestic.
- Cirrus clouds, Latin for “curl of hair” clouds, are thin wisps of ice crystals that streak above 20,000 feet (an altitude with low temperatures and low amounts of water vapor). They usually appear in fair weather, but they can indicate warm fronts or perhaps even a cyclone, not exactly a reliable measure of what is to come.
- Cirrocumulus clouds cannot be well-described outside of a picture. They are small white patches of clouds that “live” in high altitudes like the cirrus clouds. Some say they look like small grains dotting the sky. These clouds tend to appear in cold, but fair, weather.
- Cirrostratus clouds are white-ish and transparent clouds that cover the entire sky. It may be hard to identify the clouds by the clouds themselves, but cirrostratus clouds form a halo around the sun or moon due to the refraction of the light on the ice-crystals that make up the clouds. They indicate a large amount of moisture in the upper atmosphere or a potential warm front.
- Cumulonimbus clouds are the proper behemoths of the cloud family. They are one of the few clouds that span the low, middle, and higher layers of the atmosphere. They generally resemble the cumulus clouds (from which they originate), but they rise and expand further upwards and downwards. These clouds are thunderstorm clouds and can indicate short periods of severe weather.
- Bonus: Lenticular clouds are a rare formation, forming downwind of an “obstacle” in the path of a strong air current. They often form near mountainous regions because mountains can often be the “obstacle” required for formation.
If you have read this and are not a science teacher, pilot, or general cloud enthusiast, there is no doubt that you have learned something. Congratulations, you have officially had a productive day! I now encourage you to go outside and spot these clouds with your own eyes, predict the weather, or just relax. If it’s a cloudless sky, which it often seems to be as we descend into 100-degree weather, then you can go and be rightfully sad.
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Happiness Editor: Chelsea Xu
